WASHINGTON – The U.S. declared a public health emergency Sunday to deal with the emerging new swine flu, much like the government does to prepare for approaching hurricanes.
:eek:k, now I’m worried.
I was out of school for two weeks with the ‘regular’ 'flu in fourth grade – it was not fun! (I was mostly fine for the second week but the school was very concerned that I be completely recovered before I came back, good for them).
I also think I caught a less bad ‘regular’ flu earlier this year – right after the election. I had muscle ache, weakness, fatigue, fever, chills, pounding headache, loss of appetite. I woke up one morning after thinking I felt better the night before and I fainted on my way to the bathroom! Doper docs: was that 'flu?
People think that 'flu is feeling nauseated for 24 hours, I don’t know why.
In any case, it seems likely that these outbreaks are all linked back to Mexico at this point. And now that they gotten out of Mexico, people seem to be on notice and taking steps to contain it. I agree that this will be a good test of preparedness, and hope that it won’t be more.
‘The declaration is part of a “standard operating procedure” that will make available additional government resources to combat the virus, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said at the White House.’ (CNN)
Seems like a good thing, to me.
Lots of people are not panicking; they are reading the bulletins, checking the availability of and ordering the appropriate medications, telling office staff to get people with flu-like symptoms out of the waiting room and into an empty examine room as soon as possible.
Others are pilfering masks from work, driving or walking instead of taking the subway, and telling co-workers with head-aches to, 'Go home, now!’ (and checking up on them by phone later.) They are looking into driving rather than flying for work or pleasure. (Not the time to have a new job that requires lots of travel, unfortunately.)
Still others are knocking back echinachea and burning blue spruce, as well as stocking up on storable foods and shopping only once a week, at eight in the morning.
People with head-aches, fevers, and general achiness will not be going to work; doctors and emergency rooms will not be putting people with such symptoms to the back of the line; pharmaceutical companies will be, strike that, are developing actions plans for switching production lines to the recommended medications.
Lots of people, many of whom can do something to avert or lessen the crisis, are on alert and getting ready.
And the end results will be just like Y2K; everyone will say, “See, nothing happened.”
The most important question is
“Will this raise the price of bacon?”
To hell with that, I’m heading to Vegas.
That’s a helluva statistic! If this flu kills 5 people in the US, there will be 24/7 fevered news coverage, bold headlines, and mass panic, but, hey, 40,000 other people died last year (and the year before and the year before that) from regular flu that nobody knows about. Well, few people know.
Wow, just…wow!
Except that a hurricane is a storm. A gathering storm. And it is associated with wind gusts. Wind gusts that make sounds like this.
whoooosh.
Just like we don’t notice total US traffic deaths, or swimming pool drownings much anymore. It’s just background noise.
That’s the way the system works… Now you get a sense of what people really mean when they incoherently mumble something about the “media.”
A gathering storm of gay people? 
Wasn’t that due to the immune response itself causing death? (The immune system being strongest in the young.)
If so, then can’t immunosuppresants or other drugs solve the worst of it? What can I do to take my immune system down a notch?
That would not be a good approach.
Sort of like torching part of your house yourself in hopes of minimizing it burning to the ground due to the threatening wildfires in the neighborhood.
It’s usually the secondary infections that do one in after the flu. Like bacterial pneumonia.
Granted, a few deaths may be due to septic shock from the virus itself, but de-activating, or even lowering your own immune system will only make secondary infections more threatening.
I don’t think that will be necessary; I think medical devices and pharmaceuticals have progressed enough that as long as we can keep the health workers functioning, total economic and social collapse can be averted. The ill will have to be monitored so that intervention, such as intubation to clear the lungs, will be performed when necessary, but not so soon as to tie up limited resources.
I also think we might be underestimating the results of … what has it been? a quarter century? of flu vaccines. Vaccines (I think) are NOT I/O; they can help against a similar micro-organism.
I haven’t had a flu in about 20 years. Has anyone had the flu in the last five years?
My question is: what would the onset of a “real” pandemic look like? How long would it take to go from the “don’t worry about it” stage to the "people dropping like flies" stage?
I have been feeling quite sick for over two weeks now. Clearly, the swine flu has reached Chicago.
Nah, that’s just spring in Chicago…
When I hear them calling it Captain Trips then I’m heading for Nebraska…
-XT
Yeah. I immediately thought of all the deaths caused by alcohol every year, from car crashes to liver failure. I don’t know the statistic, but it’s huge, yet the very thought of decriminalizing, let along legalizing, pot, which has never killed anyone that I know about, causes people to have a conniption fit.
Oh yeah, I’m well aware.
That was funny!
You mean, other than the 200,000 who died? (in the US)
Forget Nebraska! I’m heading directly to Boulder.
This flu is AIR borne. A hurricane is rushing AIR. I think I’m picking up a link here that the government may be trying to hide.